Sea horses

It is reported more than 100 sea horses were caught by Rameswaram fishermen yetserday.Many of us would have seen sea horses as specimens preserved in the zoology labs in schools and colleges or in some aquariums.Sea horses are actually a type of fish.They don't have scales like fishes.But they have armoured plates all over the body.There are about 50 different species of sea horses.They have a long horse like head and hence the name sea horse.But they are fishes because they breath water and not air.(dolphins live in water but breathe air by projecting their nostrils over water.Dolphins are mammals).They have long tails.They change colours to hide from enemies.There are tiny sea horses 1 cm long to long ones measuring up to 1 foot.The sae horses have a strange courtship.During the breeding season,they court for several days.Holding the tails they swim together, and change colours often.Finally they engage in a "courtship dance",that is said to last for 7 to 8 hours.The female sea horse drops her eggs in the males brood puch.This is very peculiar, because though the female sea horse produce eggs,it is the male sea horse that carries the eggs in its pouch and fertilizes it internally.The gestation period is about 40 to 50 days.During this period the male sea horse carries the eggs until the fuly developed young sea horses are finally pushed in to water.This can not be seen in any other animal.Though the male sea horse gives birth to thousands of young ones,as little as five suvive to live.They normally live in seaweed beds.Sea horses are very slow swimmers.The zoological name of sea horse is Hippocampus. Sea horses are considered as an endangered species world over.Habitat destructtion and excessive fishing are said to be the causes for the dwindling number of this species.Sea horses are used as a native medicine by Chinese herbal doctors.Prepackaged medcinal sea horses are sold in China.Though there are laws to prevent import and export of sea horses,it is being violated.